The Cabinet of Bangladesh has approved the draft of the Income Tax Act-2023, which aims to curb the discretionary powers of income tax officers and simplify the process of submitting income tax returns. The approval came from the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office. Cabinet Secretary Mahbub Hossain announced the approval at a press briefing, stating that the act includes 348 sections and business persons can easily submit their returns.
Explaining the salient points in the draft, the cabinet secretary said income tax officers cannot fix income tax as per his/her wish and income tax will be determined according to the formula prescribed by law. A mathematical formula has been introduced in the act to assist the taxpayers to determine their tax and as per the result of it, the taxpayers can pay their taxes. This will help to bring transparency and fairness in the process of determining the income tax.
One of the decisions of the cabinet was to change all the laws of military rule and the laws that are in English, to bring them up to date. That is why this law has been drafted by the internal resources department, said Mahbub. The existing Act in English has been converted into Bangla and simplified with some additions. Besides, some complex and ambiguous languages were scrapped.
The discretionary power of the income tax officer has been limited in the act. This will help to remove the scope of corruption and abuse of power by the income tax officers. The cabinet secretary said, “There are 348 sections in the act and the business persons can easily submit their income tax returns,”
Through the act, it will help the taxpayers to submit their income tax returns online. This will make the process of submitting the income tax returns more convenient and efficient. The taxpayers will no longer have to physically visit the income tax office to submit their returns.
Besides, the Cabinet also gave its final approval to the draft of the Agency to Innovate (A2i) Act-2022. According to the act, an agency will be formed to encourage the innovation of the government in Information Technology sector and it will help to take program in establishing knowledge based society and its implementation. The agency will be formed with a 15-member board of directors and the Information and Communication Technology Minister will be the chairman of the board, which will be autonomous. The agency will form a policy and will help to create an environment to encourage innovation.
Besides, some 67.78% decisions, taken by the Cabinet from October 2022 to December 2022, have been implemented, said Mahbub. Ninety decisions have been taken in six Cabinet meetings from October 2022 to December 2022 and 61 decisions were implemented while the implementation of the remaining 29 decisions is now underway. During this period, the Cabinet approved two policies and 11 deals or protocols.
In conclusion, the Income Tax Act-2023 and the Agency to Innovate (A2i) Act-2022 are significant steps taken by the government of Bangladesh to improve the ease of doing business and encourage innovation. These acts will bring transparency, fairness, and convenience in the process of determining the income tax and will also help to remove the scope of corruption and abuse of power. The implementation of these acts will have a positive impact on the economy of Bangladesh.
